After Her Own Experience Of Breast Cancer, Heather Goodare Began To Explore The Connection Between Traumatic Life Events, Depression And Anxiety, And Breast Cancer In The Lives Of Famous Women In History.from Anne Of Austria (1601-1666) To Audre Lourde (1934-1992), The Author Found Repeated Instances Of This Same Pattern Of Trauma, Followed By Depression, Followed By Cancer.the Book Includes Stories Of Women Who Experienced Breast Cancer At Times When Modern Medicine Was Not Available To Help: In Spite Of This, Several Of The Women Recovered Well And Went On To Live Productive Lives. One Was The Novelist Fanny Burney, Whose Mastectomy Was Performed By Napoleon's Best Surgeon; The Bloomsbury Artist Vanessa Bell Was Another. In These Two Cases Their Creative Fire Was Not Foiled: They Both Went On To Do More Admirable Work.